Mercedes-Benz CLA with EQ Technology (C174) · 3rd generation CLA (electric)
C174
Eight hundred volts, two gears, and nearly eight hundred kilometers.
- Production
- 2025–present
- Range
- up to 792 km
- Body
- 4-door coupé
- Chassis
- C174
The C174 is the first Mercedes-Benz built on MMA, and the first to treat an 800-volt compact car with almost 800 kilometers of range as a matter of course rather than a headline.
Unveiled in Rome on 13 March 2025, it inverted the compact-car formula the CLA had followed since 2013: the main drive unit sits at the rear axle, not the front. That unit is a permanently excited synchronous motor derived directly from the VISION EQXX, with double-V rotor magnets, hairpin stator windings, almost no heavy rare earths and a silicon-carbide inverter integrated with the transmission control. Battery-to-wheel efficiency over long distances is 93 per cent. Behind it sits the detail that separates the CLA from every other electric Mercedes-Benz: a two-speed transmission, 11:1 for standing starts and city work, 5:1 for the autobahn, where the electronically limited 210 km/h is reached in second.
An 85 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt pack, 320 kW DC charging and a drag coefficient from 0.21 give the CLA 250+ up to 792 km on the WLTP cycle — enough that the range conversation stopped being about anxiety and started being about tires and wheel covers. The range has since widened downwards to a 58 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate CLA 200 and upwards to the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+, which replaced the hand-built M139 four with three axial-flux motors and 500 kW. In January 2026 the CLA was named European Car of the Year, the first Mercedes-Benz to take the title since the 450 SE in 1974.
Every model.
Five designations from the 58 kWh CLA 200 to the 500 kW Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ — with the drive-unit layout and gearing of each.
| Modèle | Millésimes | Châssis | Moteur | Boîte | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLA 200 with EQ Technology | 2025–2026 | 174 | PSM, rear axle | 2-speed rear axle | — |
| CLA 250 with EQ Technology | 2026 | 174 | PSM, rear axle | 2-speed rear axle | — |
| CLA 250+ with EQ Technology | 2025–2026 | 174 | PSM, rear axle | 2-speed rear axle | — |
| CLA 350 4MATIC with EQ Technology | 2025–2026 | 174 | PSM, front + rear | 2-speed rear axle · fixed ratio front axle | — |
| Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ | 2026 | 174 | 3 × axial-flux | single-speed planetary | — |
Year by year.
From the Concept CLA at the 2023 IAA to European Car of the Year and an electric AMG 45 — the milestones of the MMA era.
- 2023
- Concept CLA shown at IAA Mobility in Munich in September, previewing the MMA platform, the 800-volt architecture and the star-pattern grille that reached production almost intact.
- 2025
- World premiere in Rome on 13 March as the first Mercedes-Benz on the Mercedes Modular Architecture, and the first car to run entirely on MB.OS — QNX for the cluster and safety functions, Linux for infotainment.
- European sales open on 29 April with the CLA 250+ (200 kW, rear-wheel drive) and the CLA 350 4MATIC (260 kW), both on an 85 kWh NMC pack charging at up to 320 kW.
- CLA L, four centimeters longer in the wheelbase and overall, shown at Auto Shanghai in April and sold in China from September.
- October: the CLA 200 with EQ Technology joins with a cheaper 58 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate pack, 165 kW and 542 km WLTP.
- December: five stars from Euro NCAP, the highest-scoring car the organization tested that year.
- 2026
- 9 January: named European Car of the Year at the Brussels motor show with 320 points, ahead of the Škoda Elroq and Kia EV4 — the first Mercedes-Benz to win since the 450 SE took the 1974 title.
- February: the CLA 250 with EQ Technology arrives between the two extremes, with a 71 kWh NMC pack, 250 kW charging and 674 km WLTP.
- Spring: a factory-fitted DC-DC converter becomes available, finally allowing the 800-volt CLA to charge at 400-volt stations.
- 9 July: Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ revealed with three axial-flux motors — two in the rear High Performance Electric Drive Unit, one at the front with a Disconnect Unit — for 500 kW peak, 450 kW continuous and 1,759 N·m. The M139 four-cylinder is not replaced.
